1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fiber optic bypass switch for selectively controlling the switching of an optical signal from one optical fiber to another optical fiber.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fiber optic switches have been developed for selectively switching optical signals from one fiber to another fiber. In particular, rotary fiber optic bypass switches are known wherein one group of optical fibers is rotated to change its alignment with a corresponding group of fibers. Known rotary fiber optic bypass switches are deficient in that they lack precision in the switching operation. A precise arrangement of the communicating fibers is important to minimize optical throughput loss in both the normal and bypass mode of the fiber optic bypass switch. Additionally, the known switches require expensive tooling and are not compact.
For example, one rotary fiber optic bypass switch has a guide rod along the central axis of the two groups of fibers to align the two groups of fibers. With this switch, the fibers in each group must then be precisely individually positioned around the guide rod in a symmetric arrangement, resulting in a less compact, less precise switching arrangement.